World of Later On
by Marla22
Summary: Jade and Guy this is just something I started doing in my spare time. It's kind of violent in some places so if you like sweet romantic stories it won't be your cup of tea. Also there are changes in the story so don't complain about continuity w the game.
1. Chapter 1

"Damnit," Guy cursed as he rounded a corner. "How many times are we going to have to fight this guy?" He continued running at breakneck speed, trying to put distance between him and the calamity that was following.

"I will admit, unwavering persistence is one of the few admirable qualities he does posses," Jade replied.

They were running from the latest in Dist's creations. A robotic monstrosity that had succeeded in separating them from the rest of the group. In a reflection of its master's will, the machine's focus seemed to be directed at Jade.

Jade's eyes scanned the forest in front of them, searching for an opportunity. About 200 meters ahead there was a sharp drop off in the path.

"Guy," Jade called. "Up ahead."

Guy glanced ahead and immediately understood what Jade was planning. The man was a brilliant strategist. He nodded, letting Jade know that he understood what was expected of him.

He cornered sharply, quickening his pace to attempt to get around the monster. Jade kept running, drawing upon his fonic arts. As he reached the edge of the small cliff, he stopped suddenly and leapt into the air, using fonons to adjust the wind to carry him a little higher. The beast started sliding to a stop, twisting its massive body around to follow him. That's when Guy saw his chance. He rushed forward, sword drawn and slammed into the creature, feeling the fonons that Jade was using to strengthen the force of his blow.

The monster staggered a bit, feet scrambling, trying to find purchase. Together, Guy and Jade gave one last push and finally succeeded in toppling the monster over the edge. It gave a cry as it fell quickly. There was a crash at the bottom, and then silence.

Both men stood quietly for several long moments. Not wanting to relax too soon. Dist's creations had a habit of being annoyingly hard to kill.

After about five minutes had passed, Jade pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh.

"Well, I suppose that takes care of that."

Guy glanced at him, "Do you think Luke, Anise and Tear all got away safely?"

"Tear and Anise can take care of themselves I'm sure. As for Luke, he's too stupid to die."

Guy chuckled, "Well, I guess we should be going back. I don't think the monsters are any match for them, but Tear and Luke might kill each other without any supervision."

Jade shook his head, "We ran at least three miles, at this point it would take us hours to find them. It's too dark; we'd be searching blindly. We should wait until morning."

Guy was relieved; he was exhausted and didn't feel much like looking for the others, much less finding them. The last thing he felt like doing right now was dealing with the constant bickering that always-ensued around Luke and Tear, along with Anise purposefully following him around, knowing how uncomfortable it made him. In all reality, Jade was the only person in the group he felt truly comfortable with.

They walked a few feet to a clearing, Jade sat on a log, hands folded under his nose, deep in thought. Guy wandered a few feet away, gathering kindling for a fire. Jade's eyes followed him admiring the long lines of his body. The years of training had molded him. His proportions were almost perfect. His shoulders were broad, but not overbearing, his waist tapered, but not too slim. Jade looked at his face, the high cheekbones, the aquiline nose, and the perfect jaw line.

Jade shook his head, clearing his brain of any inappropriate thoughts. It was true that he was not attracted to women. Years of serving Emperor Peony had erased any trace of heterosexuality that remained in him; but he tried to keep it somewhat under control. Ever since Guy had joined the band of traveling misfits Jade had gotten himself wrapped in, he had felt a considerable amount of attraction to the other man. So far he had managed to keep it concealed behind his persona of intellectual apathy, but this was the first time he had been alone with him for any extended amount of time. He, Jade the Necromancer, was nervous as hell.

Guy dumped his findings in a pile in the center of a clearing and started arranging the wood in a way that would build the best and longest lasting fire.

"You know you don't have to do that," Jade commented. "I can light a fire that won't go out for days."

Guy looked up, "I keep forgetting I have one of the most experienced fonic artists with me. I guess it isn't necessary, but still. There's a certain satisfaction in doing things without the help of fonic arts."

Jade shrugged, "As you wish."

After Guy had finished stacking the wood, Jade sent a small spark toward the brush piled on the bottom, enough to start a flame but not so much that it would light the fire and make Guy's effort go to waste.

As the fire slowly started to build, Guy smiled at Jade.

"You know, no matter how hard you try to hide it, you are really considerate."

Jade leaned forward, is hair falling over his face, pretending to examine something on his boot so Guy wouldn't see how humiliated he was from the compliment.

"Not at all. I enjoy watching people cling to primitive survival tactics."

He cursed himself for the harsh comment. Oh well, better that Guy thought him cold. If his attraction to the man was brought to light there would be hell to pay. He imagined the disgust Guy would feel, the horrified looks on the faces of the other party members. He had already had a close call when they had been with Peony, whose sense of tact was non-existent.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled. "I do appreciate the effort."

Guy unbuckled his scabbard and placed his sword on the ground. He leaned back against the log next to Jade and folded his hands behind his head.

"I think that's the first time I've ever heard you sincerely apologize," he said. "The comment wasn't even half as cruel as some of the more mild comments you've made to Luke."

Jade snorted, "The difference being that I enjoy your company. With you I don't feel like I'm babysitting."

"I didn't think you enjoyed anyone's company."

Jade felt himself go hot. "Just because I don't profess undying affection for you does not mean that I dislike you. I'm not experienced in making friends."

"I can imagine, 'Hello, I'm Jade the Necromancer, want to get some coffee and then I'll animate your corpse?' I can't imagine that being a great icebreaker."

Jade laughed softly, "Indeed, these past few months have been very interesting. For the first time, I'm surrounded by people who don't fear me. But that's a far cry from being liked."

"What are you talking about? We all like you."

"Luke is terrified of me. Tear thinks I'll turn on everyone at the drop of a hat and Anise is incapable of forming relationships without monetary value."

"And what about me?" Guy was looking directly into Jade's eyes. "Am I not allowed to enjoy your company?"

"I always figured you viewed me as an asset to the party for my fonic abilities," Jade's stomach was in his throat.

Before he knew what he was doing, Guy felt his hand go up to brush the hair from Jade's face and come to rest on his cheek. He had been feeling intensely drawn to the older man lately but had been terrified to tell him; but somehow this felt right.

Jade thought he might vomit from excitement. The feeling of Guy's hand on his face had set every fonon in his body into a frenzy and he wouldn't have been surprised if he suddenly burst into flames. It was now or never. He brought his own hand up to Guy's face, running his thumb across Guy's cheek and bring his hand down to cup his chin. Then, with more resolve than he knew he had, he brought his face close to the other man's and pressed his lips against Guy's.

Guy stiffened in surprise and then slowly responded in kind. He was awkward at first, having never had any relationships with girls and having to keep his attraction to men a secret. He let his lips part and felt Jade's tongue slip into his mouth. He moaned softly and tried to imitate the action.

After a few moments, Jade pulled back and stared at him. His heart was hammering so hard he didn't know how it was staying in his chest.

"What just happened?"

Guy was shaking uncontrollably, "I –I'm sorry, I don't know what I was doing, I'll never tell anyone I swear. We can just forget it ever happened."

Jade stared at him, holding him in his intense, unwavering gaze.

"I don't want to forget it."

Suddenly, he wanted to touch him, to feel his skin. He removed his long gloves, and watched as Guy responded in kind. He put his hands on either side of Guy's face and slowly walked his fingers over it, letting his hands memorize the lines. Guy brought his hands up and threaded them through Jade's hair, feeling it move through his fingers like water. Jade couldn't stand it anymore; he grabbed the back of Guy's head and kissed him hard.

No hesitation this time. Guy responded just as passionately, gripping a handful of Jade's hair, pulling slightly. Not hard enough to be painful, but enough to intensify everything that was happening.

He sat on the ground pulling Guy on top of him so his legs were laying folded on either side of Jade. He started pulling at Guy's clothes as Guy himself started to unbutton the front of Jade's jacket.

Jade leaned back to better look at the other man. Guy was in as excellent shape as Jade had thought. The fire cast shadows on his sinewy arms. He ran his hands up Guy's chest, feeling a network of small scars from years of practice and training with the sword. He let his hands run over Guy's shoulders and come down to rest on the small of his back.

Guy looped his arms around Jade's neck and let his forehead fall onto the other man's shoulder. He felt Jade's arms come around to grip him harder. He inhaled deeply, memorizing the smell of him. He leaned back to look at Jade and brushed the few strands of hair that had fallen in his face behind his ears and smiled.

"Do you know how long I have wanted this?" asked Jade.

"How much time have I wasted worrying you would be disgusted by me?"

"Disgusted? You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

Guy buried his head into Jade's shoulder, trying to keep the tears from springing forward.

"Guy, I want you," Jade whispered in his ear.

Guy leaned back, "I want you too, but I don't think I'm ready. Not yet."

Jade smiled and used the pad of his thumb to wipe away a renegade tear from Guy's face.

"I understand, I will wait for you."

"Yes, but for how long?"

"Forever, if that's what it takes."

Guy couldn't take it anymore. He fell forward onto Jade's chest, sobbing in earnest. Jade brought his arms around him, kissing his ear and running his hands up and down his back. After awhile Guy stopped crying, then his breathing became slow and even and Jade realized he had fallen asleep.

Jade carefully rolled him over onto the ground and pressed a kiss to his temple. The forest was still dangerous and he needed to protect Guy in case any monsters should happen to come across them.

'Ah well,' he thought. 'No rest for the weary.'

Guy's eye's slowly opened. He squinted against the morning sun and sat up. He rubbed his forehead and looked around him. He was in the clearing; the fire was nearly out but still smoking. Jade was nowhere to be found.

Oh god, Jade.

Guy's head suddenly fell forward with the memory of the previous night. What had he been thinking? He was an idiot; Jade must have been humoring him long enough to escape.

He cursed himself for being so foolish as to think the other man sincerely returned his affection. 'What's done is done,' he said to himself. 'I need to start making my way back to the others.'

He pulled his shirt and gloves back on and was buckling his scabbard when Jade came back into the clearing. Guy's heart stopped for a moment. Jade was still without his heavy military jacket, only in his pants and boots. For some reason his long hair was wet; gathering around his shoulders sending rivulets of water streaming down his chest. Guy felt the painful erection that had been plaguing him since the night before flare up with a vengeance.

For his part, Jade didn't know what to do. When he woke up that morning he had looked down on Guy's sleeping form and felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. Surely Guy was terrified of what Jade would do to him if he didn't cooperate, hence his willingness to go along with last night's escapades.

"There's a stream in that direction," Jade said motioning in the direction he had just come from. "The water is cold, but it's clean."

"Thanks," mumbled Guy, as he strode in that direction, having to concentrate on not running as fast as he could to escape the embarrassment.

Jade felt his heart drop as Guy hurried away. Guy's eagerness to get away from him confirmed what Jade had been fearing. Last night was a lie.

Guy stumbled upon the stream and sat down on the ground next to it. He removed his gloves and cupped the cold water in his hands. He splashed it on his face and neck, shuddering at the sudden chill. His throbbing erection finally subsided and he tried to mentally prepare himself for the hours he would be spending with Jade.

He walked back into the clearing. Jade was buttoning his heavy green jacket. Guy could never understand how Jade could walk around completely covered from neck to foot in his uniform without ever getting hot. Jade pulled on his long gloves and flexed his fingers.

"Ready to go," he asked, pushing his glasses up his nose.

"Sure, but how do you expect to find the others?"

"If there's one thing Luke is not it's inconspicuous. All we need to do is walk in the general direction of where we came from and I'm sure we'll hear him from a mile away."

Guy gave a short nod of acknowledgement and walked in the direction they had come from the previous night, taking long strides to stay ahead of Jade to hide his shame. He felt like such a fool. He was anxious to reunite with the others, so he wouldn't have to bear the weight of being alone with Jade. He wanted to scream. He'd do it if he thought it would do any good.

Jade watched as Guy walked ahead of him. The man was practically running, he wanted to get away from Jade so bad. Jade strained his senses, looking for any sign of the others. It would be a relief to be able to immerse himself in the banter of the group dynamic. Or at the very least he would have something to distract him from the overwhelming weight on his heart.

All of a sudden his sharp ears picked up a voice in the distance, " . . . inconsiderate moron!"

Without thinking he grabbed Guy's arm; Guy spun around, looking like he'd been shocked. Jade quickly dropped his arm and pointed off into the distance.

"I heard what I believe is Tear's voice in that direction."

"Finally," Guy breathed a sigh of relief and turned in the direction Jade was pointing.

They walked for about five minutes before they came across their three companions. Luke looked mad, Tear was clearly annoyed and Anise had a look of boredom.

Anise glanced up, "Colonel! You're alright!"

"Of course, Anise, would you expect any less from me?"

"Guy, thank god," Luke exclaimed. "You don't know what I've been through, man. I had to spend all night with this cold hearted bitch!"

"Me, cold hearted?!" Tear bellowed. "Who was the one who wanted to leave them in the forest to head to the nearest town?"

"We would have come back tomorrow to look for them," Luke retorted.

"Now, now children," Jade chided. "There's plenty of time for that later. I for one have had enough of these woods. Lets leave this place, then you two can get on with your lover's quarrel."

Tear turned as red as a beet but said nothing. She flicked her long brown hair over her shoulder and walked away. Luke grumbled but started walking without any clearly voiced complaint.

Anise walked along side Jade, looking at him from the corner of her eye.

"Interesting night?" she queried.

"Not especially."

Guy felt his heart sink. He was sure everything Jade had said since returning was a message to him, letting him know that in Jade's view, the previous night had never happened.

Jade on the other hand was in turmoil. He was trying to reassure Guy; trying to let him know that he would never tell. That he was fine with being rejected. Even if he really wasn't.

The group finally exited the forest. Luke ran ahead, jubilant at being free. Tear ran after him, yelling admonishments. Anis continued to walk alongside Jade with Guy trailing far behind. Well, at least he had his fear of women as an excuse to not get close to Jade.

"There's a town a few miles away," Luke called from up ahead. He was standing next to a sign, directing travelers to various destinations.

"We'll rest for the evening and then decide what to do in the morning," Tear said. "Jade, do you think Dist will retaliate soon?"

"Not until he builds himself a new toy," Jade sighed. "We have at least two weeks."

"Colonel, I think someone has a crush on you," Anis grinned.

Jade wrinkled his nose.

"That man is the biggest annoyance of my lifetime. I would pay dearly to never have to be bothered with him again."

Luke threw himself onto the bed at the inn.

"Finally, I am so tired of walking all the time."

They had split up in the hotel lobby; Guy and Luke in one room, Jade and Anise in another room, and Tear took a room to herself.

Guy eased himself onto the adjacent bed. He was exhausted. It had been the two most physically an emotionally draining days of his entire life. He just wanted to forget the previous night and go back to the way things were. He suddenly became aware that Luke was talking to him.

"What was it like?"

"What?"

"What was it like?" Luke was sitting cross-legged on the bed staring at him. "You had to spend the night with Jade. So what was it like?"

Guy felt his face flush. His heart started pounding against his chest.

"It was alright."

"You couldn't make me spend more than five minutes alone with that freak," Luke sighed. "Not only is the guy a hardass but he's creepy as hell."

"He's alright."

"Whatever," Luke shrugged. "All I'm saying is I don't envy you. I'm going to sleep."

He rolled over and shrugged the blankets up over his shoulders.

"Night," Guy called. He eased down onto the bed, letting his tired muscles relax. It was time to take a full assessment of the situation. By now he was positive that Jade was telling him to back off. Sending the message that Guy's advances the previous night were unwelcome. The question Guy faced now was whether he could return to the way things were. Could he function in the group without letting his personal feelings affect him? Granted that in this party, there was a fair amount of leeway for personal problems, but nothing like this. Could he spend every day right next to Jade, pretending like nothing had ever happened?

He thought about Jade. He grabbed his shirt and pressed it to his nose, hoping it retained a trace of Jade's scent. He began to touch himself, biting his lip as punishment. The harder he stroked, the harder he bit down. By the time he climaxed there was a small pool of blood on his lower lip.

"Anise has a point," said Tear. "If Arietta is in the vicinity we have to assume that whatever she's doing is not for the benefit of anyone in the area."

They were all gathered in the hotel lobby. According to one of the townspeople, Arietta, youngest of the God-Generals, had been spotted wandering some of the ruins nearby.

"Who cares," Luke groaned. "These people aren't our responsibility. Let them take care of themselves."

"Luke! How cold you be so heartless?" Tear exclaimed.

Guy sighed. This was going to be arduous to say the least. After about twenty minutes of arguing and some pretty substantial threats from Tear, Luke finally agreed to investigate Arietta's intentions in the area.

They headed out to the ruins Anise had been told about. They looked over the hill at the expansive structure.

"We'll never cover all this ground in a group," said Jade. "We should split up."

"I want to go with Guy," Luke demanded.

"No you don't," Tear replied. "He lets you get away with too much and I want you close so I can keep an eye on you."

"Then I can go with Guy," Anise snickered, inching toward Guy, making him noticeably uncomfortable.

"Anise, are you trying to sabotage the mission you insisted we go on?" Jade said in a mocking tone.

"Fine," Anise grumbled. "I'll go with Tear and Luke, the Colonel and Guy can go together."  
"What? Wait!" said Guy, his panic rising.

"That's good," Tear nodded, "Luke needs twice the back up as Guy."

"Hey!" Luke complained.

Jade, hiding his hurt feelings behind his usual mask of apathy nodded.

"Very well, you three take the West side, Guy and I will take the East. Six hours should suffice given the size of the structure. We meet back here the, whether or not we have found anything."

"Lets go, you," Tear grumbled, dragging a whining Luke behind her with Anise bringing up the rear.

Jade and Guy turned and headed in the opposite direction, neither one looking at the other. They made slow but steady progress through the ruins with nothing to show for it. Several hours later they had covered most of the East side but had still found nothing.

"I'm starting to doubt the validity of Anise's informant," Jade remarked.

"At the very least we're clearing the monsters out," Guy replied, pulling his sword out of what looked like a carrot and crayfish hybrid.

"Yes, we've been reduced to the status of pest control," Jade snapped. He was angry. Angry with himself, angry at the situation.

"Whatever," Guy mumbled. "If you're going to complain, do it by yourself, I'm leaving."

He turned and headed the other direction, not really wanting to. Jade seemed to get angrier with him as the minutes went by. He felt the tears well up in the corners of his eyes and fought to keep them under control.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here," said a voice from the darkness.

Guy glanced up to see Arietta and Asch emerge from a shadow.

"Asch, we have him, let me have my revenge, let me kill him for Mommy," Arietta cried clutching her doll to her chest.

"Don't worry Arietta, you'll have your turn, when I'm done with him," Asch snickered.

Guy drew his sword and prepared to rush forward. Asch rolled his eyes.

"Do you really expect to take us both out with that? We've been following you and the Necromancer for hours. I could hardly believe it when you all split up voluntarily."

Guy heard a rumble behind him; he turned to find himself surrounded by Arietta's "family." The lygers circled him; the only thing keeping them from ripping him apart was Arietta. All she would have to do is say the word and they would tear him apart. There were too many. He would never be able to take them all in addition to Asch and Arietta. He started to panic.

He heard Asch say, "Now, Arietta." And everything went black.

Jade walked back to the meeting point, cursing himself for his stupidity. Why had he snapped at Guy when he had done nothing wrong? When he met up with him he would apologize. He would tell him that the night in the forest never happened that that he would never bring it up again. Hopefully he could bring some closure to both of them.

He glanced up and noticed Luke, Tear and Anise all standing ahead of them. Where was Guy? Why wasn't he there?

As he approached the group Tear looked around.

"What happened to Guy?" she asked her head cocked to one side.

"We got separated, I thought he would head back here, or at least meet up with you," said Jade, trying not to let his alarm and fear show.

"We have to find him," Luke cried, his alarm out for all to see. "He's the only thing keeping me sane on the stupid trip!"

"Lets look for him, I don't think splitting up is a great plan," said Anise. "Take us to the general area you were in when he left and we're look. He might have gotten overwhelmed with monsters, so we need to hurry."

"Right," said Tear. "Let's go."

Guy groaned; his head was killing him. He sat up and looked around. He was still in the ruins, but this looked like an underground passage of some sort. He stood up and tried to get his bearings. His sword was gone.

"You didn't think I'd let you keep that, did you?" said a voice from behind him.

He whirled around, it was Asch, wearing the usual self assured smirk that reminded Guy so much of Luke.

"You are so dense," Asch said in a mocking tone, walking toward him slowly. "You can't see two feet in front of your face."

"What are you talking about?"

Asch finally closed the distance between them and leaned forward until they were face to face.

"Look at my eyes, look at my face, don't you recognize me?"

Guy was bewildered. He let his eyes roam over Asch trying to figure out what he was talking about. Then he gasped. It couldn't be.

"Looks like you figured it out."

"Luke, but how? This is impossible!"

"The Luke you've been traveling with is nothing more than an inferior copy, I am the original."

"Why are you doing this then?"

"Because I hate the copy. And I hate you for being so gullible you actually believed that was me." Asch's hand shot out and he gripped Guy by his hair. "You were my best friend. My loyal servant, and you couldn't tell the difference between that thing and me?! How dare you!"

He backhanded Guy, sending him sprawling across the floor. Guy barely had time to pick himself up before Asch delivered a kick to his ribs. Guy collapsed on the floor again, coughing and trying to stay conscious. He couldn't fight him. He was too strong. His mind worked frantically trying to find a way out of this.

Asch squatted down next to him and pulled him up by his hair.

"I've been watching you, Guy. I know all about you. I know about you and the Necromancer."

Guy's eyes went wide. Shame flooded every inch of him. Asch smirked.

"Who would have thought, I knew you were afraid of women but this," he shook his head in mock sympathy. Then he looked angry again. "And with him. You disgust me."

Asch's head went back and he spit on Guy's face. Suddenly, Arietta's face appeared out of the darkness.

"Asch, can I take my revenge for Mommy yet?"

"Just a moment Arietta, keep watch, I'll be done here soon."

Arietta retreated back to the entrance and Asch turned his attention back to Guy.

"Very well then, I'm going to give you what you want, you freak."

Guy felt Asch's fist make contact with his temple and he crumpled to the floor, he didn't even have the strength to pick himself up anymore. He tasted blood and he felt Asch tugging on his clothes. He tried to turn himself to look at his attacker, but Asch planted a foot on his head.

"No you don't, you stay right where you are," he muttered.

One by one he removed each item of clothing until Guy was curled up into a naked heap on the floor. Asch smirked.

"I'm going to give you what you couldn't get from your Necromancer," he slowly started to remove his own clothing, taking the time to fold each item and place it on the floor with intense care. When Guy looked up, Asch was completely nude, and fully erect.

"Turn over."

Guy started to turn over and then broke into a run. This was his only chance, if he could get out the door fast enough there could be too much confusion to catch him. Arietta was looking for people coming in, not people going out. But before he could get five feet away he felt Asch's foot slam into his stomach. He fell onto the floor, in a coughing fit. He felt Asch kneel down in front of him.

"There's no escape, Guy," he said softly. "I am going to rape you. And when I'm done raping you, I'm going to let Arietta and her pets have you. They will torture you until you are an inch from death. Then I'm going to catch your Necromancer. I'm going to bring him here, I'm going to torture him, I'm going to rape him, and I'm going to kill him. And I'm going to make you watch."

Guy couldn't take it anymore. He threw up violently, emptying the contents of his stomach at Asch's feet. He looked up.

"Please, don't," he pleaded. "I don't care what you do to me. Leave him and the others alone."

"That's impossible, Guy," Asch whispered. "Without all of you dead, I can never be whole again."

Before Guy could say anything else, Asch lifted him up by his hair and on to his knees. He positioned himself so his dick was right in front of Guy's face.

"Put your mouth on me," he commanded.

Guy clamped his mouth shut. Ash balled his fist and punched him in the back of the head.

"Do it, you cunt," he screamed. "Maybe if you're good, I'll show some mercy to the Necromancer. I could kill him at any time you know, and I will, it's just a matter of how I do it. If you want him to have a merciful death you will cooperate."

Guy finally gave in. He knew Asch was probably lying, but if there were a chance that Jade could be spared what he was about to go through, he'd do it gladly. He opened his mouth and felt Asch thrust his dick into it. He almost threw up again. Asch was huge and merciless. He grabbed the back of Guy's head and started grinding his hips against Guy's face.

"Come on Guy, haven't you ever done this before?" Asch mocked. Then his eyes went wide. "Of course not, of course you haven't, you're far too self conscious to experiment with anyone. You're a virgin. Oh god this is perfect!"

He began thrusting into Guy's mouth with vigor. Guy though he was going to rip his throat open. Asch began to moan. He finally came with a shuddering yell. He filled Guy's mouth with his seed and pulled himself out of his mouth.

"Don't you dare spit it out," he warned. "I want you to swallow it all."

Guy obliged; it took all his energy not to vomit. He felt like he was going to pass out. He felt Asch grab him by the hair again and felt him dragging him to the opposite side of the room.

"You're not done yet, not by a long shot," Asch muttered.

He pushed Guy back on a large stone slab so that Guy was looking up at him. He was fully erect again and smiling down at Guy, like a man would look at his favorite dog.

"Now here comes the fun part," he moved forward. He pushed Guy's knees apart and then bent them so they were against his chest. He positioned himself between Guy's legs and placed his dick right at Guy's opening, so Guy could feel it, just barely brushing him.

"I'm not using anything to lubricate you, so this will hurt me," Asch hissed into Guy's ear. "But no matter how painful it is for me, it will be nothing compared to what you will be going through."

With one quick thrust Asch entered him. Guy screamed in pain. He was being torn apart from the inside. Asch began to thrust as hard as he could, grunting in pain but smiling at the same time. Guy couldn't seem to stop screaming. He felt himself start to drift out of consciousness. Asch leaned down and clamped onto his ear with his teeth until he drew blood.

"No you don't you fucking bitch, you're not getting out of this by falling asleep."

He began to push as hard as he could. Guy's ass was becoming wet with the blood Asch had drawn. He finally began to pound him as hard as he could, yelling at Guy as he did so.

"Do you like this?! Is this what you want, you fucking cunt?! Is this what you want your precious Necromancer to do to you, you worthless little shit?!"

Finally with one last yell; he came, filling Guy to the brim with more of his seed. He pulled out and looked down. Guy looked at him like he wasn't sure who he was and passed out.

He wiped the blood and semen off of himself using Guy's clothes. He got dressed and prepared to tell Arietta she could have him when she came running through the entrance.

"Asch, the people who killed Mommy are heading this way, all of them, I think they're looking for him!"

"Shit," Asch knew that normally he could defeat all of them but the recent festivities had drained him of most of his energy; and he knew Arietta couldn't handle them all.

He leaned over Guy and gripped his chin.

"This isn't over, bitch, I will catch your Necromancer, and you will watch him die." He pressed his lips to Guy's and spit in his face.

"Arietta, let's go, we'll save your revenge for another day.

"I swear I heard voices in this direction," Luke insisted.

"We're wasting out time following your lead," Tear said irritably. For the past five minutes Luke had been insisting he could hear people talking.

"Wait, what is that?" Anise ran ahead to a wall directly ahead of them.

"It's a wall, idiot," Luke said.

"No, it's something else," Jade muttered. He looked at the wall. "It's a door."

He threw his weight against it, but it wouldn't budge.

"I'm going to need your help," He shouted to the others, and together they all pushed against the massive rock. It finally gave way into a chamber.

Luke rushed in and started looking around. The others followed slowly. They all started exploring the large room.

"Oh my god," Anise screamed. The others ran to her location. Jade felt the bile rise in his throat. It was Guy. He was covered in blood, he looked like he had been beaten half to death. Tear rushed forward to begin healing.

"I don't know if I can fix this by myself, Jade I need your help. Jade? Jade!"

Jade shook his head sat down beside her. He concentrated all of his fonons and cast the healing spell. It took all of his concentration to keep from passing out.

Guy groaned, Jade pulled him up and cradled him in his arms. Guy's eyes opened slowly and he saw Jade's face.

"Guy! Who did this to you, what happened?!"

"Jade, it was Asch, he wanted to hurt you, I couldn't let him," he reached out and touched Jade's face. His hand fell and he passed out again.

Jade stood up Guy, still cradled in his arms. His head felt like it was filled with a million buzzing flies. He couldn't think, he couldn't hear. All of a sudden he felt a hand on his shoulder and he turned toward it.

"Jade, let's get him back to town," Tear said softly.

"Yes, town, of course," Jade turned toward the exit and slowly walked out.

"What the hell," Luke turned to Anise. "Why would Asch use Jade to get to Guy?"

"Hmmm," Anise said softly. "I think we should wait until Guy is ready to tell us."

Guy slowly opened his eyes. The room looked familiar. The inn, this was the inn they were staying at before they went to the ruins. He tried to push himself up and cried out in pain. His entire body hurt, nothing had been spared. He slowly and painfully pushed himself up into a sitting position and looked around. He was covered in bandages and his clothes were folded on a chair next to the bed.

All of a sudden there was a soft knock at the door.

"Guy, it's me, can I come in," Jade muttered.

Guy felt himself break out in a sweat. He didn't know if he could look at Jade right now. He felt overwhelming shame at what he had let Asch do to him. He hated himself for it. Even if Jade wanted him now, Guy didn't deserve him. He was worthless. Asch had seen to that. He took a few deep breaths and composed himself.

"Yes, come in," he said, his voice wavering.

Jade opened the door and walked in, his eyes filled with concern. Guy felt his eyes filled with tears. God he was beautiful; Guy loved him, he knew that now. But it was too late.

Jade walked to him and sat on the edge of the bed. He looked at Guy; even like this, beaten and bruised he was the most beautiful creature Jade had ever laid eyes on. He wanted to take him in his arms and promise him that nothing would ever hurt him again.

"How do you feel?" He asked softly.

"Fine, I suppose," Guy avoided Jade's eyes. He couldn't look at him without feeling ashamed.

Jade reached out and put his hand on Guy's face. He wanted to tell him how sorry he was that he had let this happen, how much he loved him and that he would make everything alright again. But he knew anything he said would sound trivial after what Guy had just gone through.

Guy pulled away from Jade's hand. He wasn't deserving of Jade's affection. He leaned back on the headboard and closed his eyes.

"You know," he murmured. "I'm very tired all of a sudden."

Jade tried not to show his disappointment. Was Guy angry? Of course he was angry. Jade hadn't been there in the moment Guy had needed him the most. He had failed him. He stood up and looked down at Guy one more time before moving toward the door.

"Guy," he whispered as he closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry."

"It's not fair, you promised!"

Asch's forehead was knitted together in annoyance. Arietta had become unbearably irritating ever since her revenge was foiled back at the ruins.

"What did you want me to do, Arietta?" he said through clenched teeth. "Take them all on at once?"

"You promised," Arietta whined, her large eyes filling with tears. "You said I would get revenge for Mommy, you promised!"

"I don't have time for this!" he yelled and stormed off.

He was angry; although he had greatly enjoyed the activities at the ruins, he now needed to rearrange his plans. Now that the Copy and the others had discovered what had happened to Guy, they would be increasingly cautious and harder to catch off guard.

As he rounded the corner he heard a voice from the adjoining hall.

"Is the prodigal son having trouble?"  
"Not now, Dist."

The eccentric scientist came around the corner in his floating chair, a self-assured smirk on his face. Dist was Asch's least favorite of the God-Generals and he was not in the mood to deal with him.

"That's really too bad," Dist drawled, examining his fingernails. "And to think, I went through the trouble of creating a new toy to assist you."

Asch stopped midstride. This was unusual. Dist created his machines on a weekly basis, but they were always for himself, to achieve his goals and no one else's. The fact that he had said that he had created it to help Asch, made he think he was up to something.

Seeing the perplexed look on Asch's face, Dist smirked.

"Interested?"

"What's the catch?"

"No catch," Dist said, shrugging his shoulders. "For once, we have something in common."

"And what might that be?"

"Jade."

It all made sense now. Dist's obsession with The Necromancer was well known among the God Generals. He must have heard about Asch's agreement with Arietta to try to trap Guy and the Copy.

"What if I say no? I need The Necromancer alive, for now at least. How do I know you won't kill him once I've used your monster to catch him?"

"I guess you will just have to trust me."

Asch snorted. "Forget it."

"I need him alive, just as much as you do. "

"Why?"

" Remember how it felt, taking advantage of your former man servant? That's what I want with Jade."

Asch felt himself go bright red. So word of his exploits had traveled through the ranks of the God Generals quickly.

"Is your machine finished?"  
"Just a few minor adjustments are needed."

"Have it ready in two days. Or I'm leaving you behind."

"We need to plan our next move," Tear said thoughtfully, looking around the table at the other party members.

"I say we go after Asch," Luke insisted.

"Oh brilliant idea," Anise groaned, rolling her eyes. "A full frontal assault on the God Generals."

"Hey, you were all gung ho about taking on Arietta just a couple days ago!"  
"That was different! I was told she was alone!"

"Well obviously, that wasn't the case! This never would have happened if you weren't so fucking gullible!"

"Enough!" Jade said sternly. He kneaded his temples with his fingertips. He had had an excruciating headache for the past day and a half. "It's nobody's fault. Even if we hadn't followed Anise's lead this still would have happened. Maybe not in the same way, or at the same time but it would have happened. None of us were even remotely prepared for an attack like this. Asch knew exactly what he was doing. He waited for us to become complacent, and caught us off guard. The fault lies with all of us."

Luke and Anise both looked ashamed and didn't say anything further.

Tear cleared her throat, "Though I agree with Anise that an attack on the God-Generals at this time would be foolish, I also agree with Luke. We can't let Asch get away with this."

"But Tear," Anise said. "These are the God-Generals we're talking about. We couldn't even defend ourselves against two of them, much less the whole bloody force."  
"I don't think that's the case," Guy said softly.

Everyone looked at him but Jade. Ever since he had begun to recover, the others had been treating him strangely. Luke constantly stared at him like he had no idea who he was. Anise always became nervous when he entered a room. Even Tear seemed uncomfortable around him, although he could tell she was trying not to let it show. And Jade; well he hadn't said two words to him since that day Guy woke up.

"What do you mean, Guy?" Tear asked.

"Asch and Arietta, they are working together, but not for the same reasons." Jade said. "They aren't attacking on behalf of the God-Generals. This is all personal. Arietta is purely secondary in all of this; Asch is the one who set this all into motion."

"How the hell do you know that?" Luke demanded.

"Arietta doesn't calculate her attacks. Almost every time we've encountered her, it's been coincidental or she attacked us outright. She's not sneaky." Jade's voice lowered. "This time, however, the attack was executed perfectly. Asch planted that rumor to get us out there, knowing we'd split up."

"I understand Arietta's goal," Anise said. "But what about Asch. What's his reason for attacking Guy?"

Everyone turned toward Guy. He said nothing. He hadn't told the others about what Asch had said to him about being the real Luke. He had no intention to. Luke would go charging after Asch and Guy had an obligation to protect him, even if he was a copy.

"I don't know," he mumbled. The others started discussing what Asch could possibly want, except Jade, who stared at Guy. He didn't believe for a second that Guy didn't know what Asch wanted. He didn't know why he wasn't speaking up, but he wouldn't call him out in front of anyone. He would ask Guy himself in private, no matter how uncomfortable Guy felt with him.

Guy clutched his side as he walked back to his room. He had several broken ribs where Asch had kicked him. He could ask Tear for a healing spell, but she would tell him to ask Jade, who was the more adept healer. He'd rather wait it out.

He walked into his room, looking forward to falling into bed when he became aware of someone else in the room. He whirled around, sword drawn, ready to defend himself.

"Now, now, no need for that," Jade said stepping from the shadows.

"What do you want," Guy demanded, deliberately keeping all emotion out of his voice.

"You know why Asch attacked you. I want to know why you're not telling us."  
"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Bullshit!" Jade yelled.

Guy looked up, startled. Jade never raised his voice. He was the picture of cool detachment. He never showed anger or frustration beyond the mocking tone he took with Luke. To hear him enraged was new.

Jade walked up to Guy and stood only a few inches from him. He looked him straight in the eye.

"I don't care what problems you have with me, but you have an obligation to share any information pertinent to the group. If you want me to keep it between us, fine I will, but don't hide things from me."

"Asch is the real Luke." Guy said flatly.

Jade looked shocked. "What? How is that possible?"

"He didn't give me all the details, but from what I gathered when he was kidnapped, a clone was made. That clone is the Luke you and I know. Asch was angry with me for falling for it so easily."

"I can't believe this. This is impossible."

"So," Guy smirked. "Even the great Necromancer doesn't know everything."

"What the fuck is your problem? Ever since that night in the forest you have been completely shut off. I thought you felt the same for me as I do for you. I love you, Guy" Jade snapped back, his irritation growing.

Guy shrugged, which only fueled Jade's annoyance with him.

Inside of his head, though, Guy was panicking. Jade loved him; he felt elation and overwhelming agony at the same time. Guy knew he had to cut Jade off now. If things went any further it would put Jade in danger, as well as the others. He couldn't afford to chance loosing Jade. He would rather Jade hated him than having to go through what Asch had planned. He steeled himself for what was about to happen.

"I don't know what you thought that meant, but you took my meaning all wrong. I get horny, just like every other guy. I can't be around women, so every few months or so I like to have sex with a guy. But I'm not gay. You were just a hole for me to stick it in."

Jade felt like he had been kicked in the stomach. Guy's aloof manner since Jade had confessed his feelings for him made sense now. He walked to the door.  
"I won't tell Luke or the others about Asch," he said quietly. He turned back and looked at Guy one last time. "I still love you and I always will."

As the door closed Guy ran to the bathroom and started vomiting. He started sobbing on the floor, his hands tearing at his hair. He had heard the words he wanted more than anything in the world to hear, and now he had to disregard them. He wanted to die.

After he had been there for about a half an hour, he stood up, resolved in what he knew he had to do. He was the one Asch was mad at. He would offer himself as a replacement for the rest of the party. He would even let Arietta do what she wanted for the death of her "mother." He slowly gathered his things together and climbed into his bed, waiting for the others to fall asleep, and then he would leave.

Jade woke up to someone pounding on his door. He rolled over on his bed and ignored it. He would have spent the whole night crying, that is if he could cry. When the banging persisted he flung the blankets off and jerked the door open.

"Jade!" Luke was at the door with a terrified look on his face. Jade felt his heart jump into his chest.

"Guy is gone, isn't he?"

"He must have left after we all went to bed last night," said Tear, coming around the corner. She gave Jade a sympathetic look. Jade would have blushed, if he could blush. He had the feeling Tear knew more about his feelings for Guy than she let on.

"What the hell could he be thinking?" Luke asked.

"Asch," Jade whispered. "He's going to give himself to Asch in exchange for our safety."

Tear's eyes went wide. "He's a fool if he thinks that will work, Asch won't make a deal, he'll torture Guy to death and then try to kill us anyway."

Anise came running up to join them. "I asked everyone in town, no one talked to him and no one saw him leave."  
"Of course they didn't, Guy's not an idiot, he wouldn't have left us any clues to use to follow him. His entire plan hinges on us not finding him." Jade said, his terror growing by the second, although on the outside anyone would have thought he was the calmest person in the group.

"But Guy has no idea where Arietta and Asch even are," Anise insisted. "How does he expect to find them?"

"He doesn't have to find him," said Jade. "Asch only left him because we interrupted his plans. He only left to regroup. He'll be looking for Guy. All Guy has to do is wander around by himself enough and Asch will come to him."

"Then lets get out of here!" said Luke, clearly panicking. "There are only so many places he could wander around."  
"I think Luke has a good point," said Tear. "Guy is trying to be found, all we'll have to do is look."

Jade nodded in agreement. "I would suggest that we split up, but with two of the God-Generals waiting to pick us apart one by one I don't think that's a good idea. Let's head west. If there are no clues or signs in 48 hours we will try a different direction."

"Agreed," nodded Anise. "Man, this sucks."

"No complaining," frowned Luke.

"Wow, Luke," said Tear. "I've never seen you this worried. Could it be you actually care about Guy?"  
"Shut up!" insisted Luke. "He's the only person who I can stand out of all of you. I need him around to keep me from going crazy."

"As usual, your seemingly good intentions are astonishingly selfish," said Jade.

"We don't have time for this," said Tear irritably. "Guy has at least a 12 hour lead on us, and he's traveling by himself. If we're going to have any chance of catching up to him we need to leave. Now."

They set out on foot, moving at a quick but steady pace. Taking minimal breaks and not stopping to defeat as many monsters. One day had passed and there was no sign of Guy. After numerous complaints from both Luke and Anise, they finally made camp for the night. Jade sat near the fire for a bit while the others slept. This was pointless; if he was by himself he could have found Guy by now. He should just leave the others behind. Tear got up from the spot she had been sleeping and sat next to him, folding her hands in her lap.

"Don't do anything stupid," she said quietly.

Jade looked at her. She was awfully perceptive.

"I could have found him by now," he insisted. "This is futile."

"Say you left us," said Tear, combing her fingers through her long hair. "And say you found Guy. What would you do then? Do you think you can take Arietta and Asch all by yourself? And don't forget that Dist is after you as well. What if he decides to attack you? Guy is in no position fight any of the God-Generals. Would you be able to defend both yourself and Guy?"

Jade's forehead knitted together in frustration. He hated to admit it, but she was right. There was no way he'd be able withstand potential attacks from three different God-Generals while protecting Guy. He needed the others, for now at least. He heard Tear laugh softly and turned toward her.

"What, may I ask, is so funny?"

"You," she answered, smiling at him. "Luke and Anise may be oblivious, but you don't fool me for a minute. I see how you look at him. You love him."

Jade leaned back on his elbows and heaved a sigh.

"Is it that obvious?"  
"Not to anyone else, but nobody else really pays attention."

"Thank god for small favors," Jade muttered.

"Are you really that ashamed of it?"

"He hates me," said Jade, fighting to keep his emotions in check. "He doesn't want the same thing as I do. For him it was a fleeting physical attraction."

"You're a lot dumber than I thought you were if you actually believe that."

Jade looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Obviously I'm the only one paying attention," Tear heaved a sigh. "He feels exactly what you do. He adores you. When you come into the room he becomes so charged I don't know how he sits still. Did you honestly never notice how much he wanted you?"

"But, after Asch –" Jade started.

"Asch violated him in ways you and I will never be able to understand, but there is one thing I can tell you: Guy feels damaged. He feels like he's not good enough for you now."

"I told him I still loved him and he still refused me," Jade insisted.

"Guy knows that Asch is going to come after us. He said what he did to try to make sure you wouldn't follow him. He wanted you hate him so much you wouldn't think he was worth saving. He's sacrificing himself for you. Would you have done any less?"

Jade frowned in frustration. This couldn't be right.

"Tear, do you remember that night when Guy and I stayed in the forest? I confessed to him then, I kissed him. I touched him. I thought he responded, but the next day he acted like nothing had ever happened. He made it pretty clear he didn't want anything to do with me."

"Did he say that he wanted nothing to do with you?"  
"Not exactly."

"Did you even ask him how he felt the next day?"

"Well, no but –"

Tear threw her hands into the air. "You two are even bigger idiots than Luke. Neither one of you wanted to make the other one uncomfortable by bringing up your feelings so you tried to reassure each other through your passive aggressive messages that you were ok with not being together."

Jade was stunned. Was it possible that this had been one huge misunderstanding? Had he been wasting all this time thinking Guy hated him while Guy had been thinking the same thing?

"God, what have I done?" he whispered. "This is why he's seeking out Asch. He wants to die."

Tear picked herself and threw her hair back over her shoulder.

"Then I guess we shouldn't waste anymore time then, should we? I'm going to wake Anise and Luke up, why don't you start scouting ahead and meet back up with us in a few hours?"

"Very well," Jade looked at Tear, not knowing what to say. "Tear, I –"

She waved her hand dismissively. "Thank me after you've saved him."

He nodded and ran toward the horizon and, hopefully, Guy.

Guy collapsed on the ground; he had been walking since he left, over a day ago. His injuries were starting to catch up with him. His healing ribs had broken again and made breathing difficult. He decided to take a short rest. Who knew, maybe this was when Asch finally caught up to him.

He lay down on his back, trying to find the least painful position. He wondered what the others were doing right now. Luke was probably panicking, insisting he couldn't live without Guy there, Anise was probably worried, but minimally so. Tear, he knew would want to go after him, and Jade? He wasn't sure about Jade. If his words the other night had done what he had meant for them to do, Jade would be unwilling to come after him. The others wouldn't chase him without Jade. He was the strongest asset to the group; they would never survive against Arietta, much less Asch without him. With a stab of worry, he realized Luke might still come after him. He waved the thought from his mind. He had been looking after Luke, both the original and the copy for most of his life. It was time to let him go. Besides, the only person he really wanted safe was Jade.

Wincing, he sat up. What if Jade saw through his façade? What if he came after him? Jade wasn't stupid, he would figure out what Guy was doing and come after him. Guy needed to lead Asch away from Jade. He stood up. His chest burned but he pushed the pain from his mind. Saving Jade was more important. He started out, taking an alternate course than the one he had been headed on. His fear grew with every step. Before he knew it he was running as fast as his damaged body would let him with only one thought in his head: getting Jade away from Ash.

All of a sudden he collided with something. He fell onto the ground and looked up in frustration. He glared up at whatever was blocking his path and his heart skipped a beat. It was Jade.

He stood looking down at Guy with his hands folded behind his back, his expression was unreadable. Guy slowly picked himself off the ground.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Did you really think you could outsmart me?" Jade asked. His voice was unreadable; Guy couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Where are the others," Guy asked, only just realizing that Jade was alone.

"About three hours," Jade stretched out his arm pointing southeast. "That way."

"What are you doing here by yourself?"

"Tear," Jade said, looking slightly amused. "Put some sense into me, actually. She made me realize something."

"What's that?"

"That you love me, just as much as I love you."

Guy hung his head in shame. He felt horrible. He had told Jade that he had hated him. Even if Jade knew it wasn't true, Guy would never be able to take those words back.

He looked up to see Jade holding his hand out to him.

"Well, are you coming?"

Guy took Jade's hand and let him pull him up. He winced in pain and stumbled forward. Jade brought his arms around him and held him gently to his chest.

"You idiot," Jade whispered. "What the hell were you thinking?"

"That I would rather die than let him hurt you," Guy answered, bring his arms up to circle Jade's waist. Jade pulled back and put his hands on either side of Guy's face. He pulled it up toward his and slowly kissed him. Guy felt his body melting into Jade's arms. That night in the forest he had been scared, unsure and a little ashamed. Not now; he felt extremely aware of everything that was happening. He felt no shame or hesitation. He opened his mouth and felt Jade's tongue make contact with his own. He moaned against Jade's mouth and clutched him harder, gasping at the pain in his ribs.

Jade pulled back and laughed shortly. He concentrated fonons to Guy's injuries and sent a steady stream that immediately began to heal him.

"What's so funny?"

"You're completely hopeless without me."

"Well excuse me, I was trying to protect you."

"Oh, you're my knight in shining armor now are you?"

Guy blushed furiously. "Whatever."

Jade leaned down and kissed him again. "Next time, why don't you give me the chance to save you?"

About two hours later they met up with the others. Tear looked at Jade, the obvious question in her eyes. He smiled slightly and gave a short nod of his head. Guy saw her smiling and turned red again; he walked toward Luke, getting as far away from Jade as fast as possible. They had decided that they wouldn't tell anyone yet. It made Guy uncomfortable enough knowing that Tear had figured it out. He couldn't imagine what Luke's reaction would be.

As he approached him, Luke's expression grew increasingly exasperated. When Guy reached him he pointed a finger right in his face.

"Don't ever do that again, asshole. Next time you pull a stunt like that at least have the courtesy to invite me along."

Guy smiled. "Sorry for being so selfish."

Missing the implied sarcasm Luke waved his hand as if in forgiveness. "Whatever, you owe me big time. This is the second time in a month you've taken off and left me with Super Bitch, Gold Digger and Creepy Old man."

"Luke, why are you always referring to Jade as old," Tear said. "He's only 28, barely ten years older than you."

"Luke can't fathom the amount of work it takes to become as brilliant and successful as I am, " Jade broke in. "At the rate he learns it would take him at least a century to reach a level remotely close to my genius."

"Oh, Colonel. You're so self assured," Anise grinned.

"It comes with the territory," Jade said, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "When you are as smart, talented and strong as I am you gain a certain amount of self confidence."

"Does being a first class faggot come with the territory as well," Luke snapped back.

Guy stiffened inwardly. Had Luke figured it out? Luke had a terrible track record of judgment and perception when it came to people, so Guy had felt relatively safe as far as he was concerned. His mind started to race, coming up with all kinds of excuses for his and Jade's recent behavior.

"What's that now?" Jade asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Yeah don't think I didn't notice, you and Peony, guy looked at you like he was going to jump you at any second. You two are gay together aren't you?"

"Your tact and subtly is astonishing," Jade sighed, trying not to seem too relieved. "Just because you are incapable of forming lasting friendships with anyone, don't assume that everyone else is."

"I have friends!" Luke yelled defensively. "I have Guy don't I?"  
"People who are forced to spend time with you don't count."

"You fucking asshole! I'm fucking done with you people; I'm out of here. Guy let's go."

"Come on Luke, don't take things so seriously," Tear said.  
"You shut your fucking mouth, I'm done with you people. All I ever get is crap from you, I'm sick of it. I'm going back home. Come _on _Guy."

"Guy doesn't have to follow you anywhere." Jade said, his voice lowered. He was getting tired of this.

"Yes he does, he's my servant, I own him, and I can make him do whatever I want."

Jade's patience snapped. "He's not your servant because you're not the r –"

"Enough!" Guy shouted before Jade could go any further. That had been too close. He needed to get Luke away from here. He didn't want to leave Jade after he had just been reunited with him, but if he didn't separate the two they would kill each other, or worse, Jade would tell Luke about him being a copy.

"Maybe," Guy said slowly. "Maybe it is better if I take Luke away from here."

"Guy," Tear whispered, the distress showing in her eyes.

"Guy you don't have to do this, you aren't his property," Jade insisted, practically yelling. "Don't give in his tantrums."

Guy looked at the ground to avoid looking at everyone else. "No, he's right. I have . . . an obligation to him."  
"Bullshit!" Jade hissed.

Luke was smirking, assured of his victory. Grabbing Guy by the arm he pulled him in the opposite direction. "Let's get out of here."

"Yeah, alright," Guy said, looking at Jade, trying to convey how sorry he was. Jade just looked angry. He turned away from Guy, trying to regain his composure.

"That's alright," he said. "We don't need a spoiled brat and a tool tagging along with us."

"But Jade –" Tear started to plead.  
"No," Jade said. "Let them leave Tear."

Tear looked back at Luke and Guy one more time before turning and following Jade and Anise. Guy watched the other three get smaller and smaller on the horizon until he couldn't see them anymore. Then he turned around and, not for the first time in his life, left everything he wanted behind to follow Luke.

Later that night, Tear approached Jade as he started to lie down on the ground to sleep.

"You and I need to talk," she said irritably.

He followed her to a small clearing. She whirled around and stared at him, obviously angry.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" she said, struggling to keep her voice down. "How could you let him leave like that? After everything that's happened?"  
Jade looked down at her, his face expressionless. "He made his choice. Now that I know what his priorities are who am I to keep him from them?"  
"That's crap and you know it, did you even tell him how you feel?"

"Of course I did," Jade yelled back at her, not able to contain himself anymore. "I told him how I felt, I showed him how I felt and that still wasn't enough! He'd rather follow that selfish little prick than be with me."

Tear was taken aback. She started to reach forward to touch Jade's shoulder.

"Jade I'm so sorr –"  
"I don't want your fucking pity," he growled back at her, flinching away from her touch. "I want to forget he ever existed."  
"But there has to be a way for you to convince him –"

"No," Jade stood up, calm and apathetic again. "I wash my hands of him. I'm done."

"I won't let you give up like this," Tear insisted.

Jade turned toward her; Tear flinched back. 'His eyes, what the hell is wrong with his eyes.' Jade looked crazed, but completely in control at the same time. It was the most frightening thing she had ever seen. Then she realized it. She wasn't looking at Jade anymore. This was The Necromancer. The famed battle god that could rip an enemy to pieces and then make the corpse dance for him.

"Woman," he said softly. "Do not test me. I am leaving now. If you follow me, I will kill you."

"I'm hungry," Luke whined. "Guy, make me some food."

"It's only been 8 hours since you ate, we need to cover more ground," Guy sighed. It had been three days since they had left the others. Luke, jubilant in his victory over Jade and the others had become increasingly demanding. Guy was reaching his limit.

"But I'm hungry," Luke persisted. "I want something now. You have to do what I say!"

That was it. Guy stopped suddenly and jerked around to face Luke.

"Have you forgotten," he fought to keep his voice under control. "That two, maybe even three of the God-Generals are looking for us? What will you do if they find us? Hmm? I can't fight all three of them and I for damn sure know that you can't either. If they find us I won't be able to protect you. If they find us they will kill you but not before they've tortured you and broken your will to live. We need to get to a city as fast as possible. With the others we were safe. Now we're sitting ducks."

Inwardly Guy was worried it was already too late. They were making painfully slow progress, and for the past day and a half, he'd had the feeling that someone or something was following them. He was tired and irritated and Luke's persistent complaining was starting to grate on his nerves.

"Fine," Luke grumbled and turned to resume walking.

"Wait," Guy said suddenly, drawing his sword. Whatever was following them was closing in fast. They wouldn't have time to run. "Luke, get your sword out hurry!"

"What? Why?"

"Goddammit don't ask questions, just do it!"

"Alright alright."

Luke pulled his sword from the scabbard attached to his lower back and stood next to Guy, peering into the distance for whatever they were protecting themselves from.

All of a sudden his eyes went wide and he almost dropped his sword. "You have got to be fucking kidding me."

"I see them, they're less than five minutes away," Anise yelled back to Tear, and then broke into a run.

After Jade had left them, Tear had made the decision to go back to Guy and Luke. Not only would they be safer, but she had a bad feeling about what Jade in his current state had the capacity to do. Tales of the Necromancer's cruelty and ruthlessness were legendary. Tear had never believed them after meeting Jade, but with this recent turn of events she realized that the stories were most likely all to accurate.

They finally caught up to the other two. They collapsed on the ground, gasping for breath.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" Luke demanded.

"Is that any way to great your future wife?" Anise sneered back at him.

Guy leaned down to help Tear onto her feet. When he saw the look on her face, he knew something terrible had happened.

"Tear," he asked, his concern mounting. "What happened? Wait, where's Jade."

"Guy," she gasped. "You have to do something! I didn't know, I couldn't stop him."

"What are you talking about?" he asked.

"After you left, I yelled at him. I told him he was an idiot for letting you go. I didn't know what would happen. He got more and more upset and then, he stopped being Jade."

"What are you babbling on about?" Luke said, looking annoyed.

"Oh god," Guy whispered. "Shit. Fucking shit!"

"Exactly," Tear replied. "We have to find him before he does something terrible."

"Would someone explain what the hell is going on?" Luke demanded.

"The Colonel, is not like other people," Anise said slowly. "He's like two people, actually. One is the Jade that you know. The other is The Necromancer. He can switch personalities on whim. I've only seen the Necromancer a few times, during particularly hard battles, usually. He keeps it under control most of the time. But if he becomes too traumatized or upset, the switch can be made against his will, and it's nearly impossible to get him to switch back."

"So what? We'll just find him and knock him around until he chills out." Luke shrugged.

"Are you an idiot?" Anise snapped back. "Jade is stronger than almost all of us combined by himself. As the Necromancer he's infinitely stronger. And it's not just that. The Necromancer lacks almost every human emotion. He has no empathy, no mercy. He doesn't spare lives and he doesn't fight fair. He will do whatever it takes to kill you. He also doesn't discriminate." Her voice quieted to barley above a whisper. "Men, women, even children. He doesn't care. He'll kill everyone."

Tear turned to Guy. "We have to find him, we've lost too much time already trying to catch up to you. At this rate it will be nearly impossible to find him. But we have to try."

"If you want to find him do it by yourself, there's no way I'm getting mixed up in this," Luke said defiantly. "Come on Guy, let's go."

"No," Guy said turning the opposite direction. "We have an obligation. Both to Jade and the people he could hurt. We can't let him stay like this."

"But you're my –"

"No!" Guy yelled. "I am not your servant, I am not your property. I am taking my life back. The person I care about more than anyone is out there, out of his mind because of what you made me do. And if we don't stop him a lot of people are going to die! Now either come with us or not but shut the hell up and make your decision."

Luke turned red. His mouth worked furiously, not knowing what to say. He finally gathered himself and sighed.

"Fine, whatever. But you owe me an explanation after this."  
"Trust me, you'll get more than you bargained for," Guy said breaking into a run as the followed the path Tear and Anise had taken to get to them. "Tear, how much of a lead does he have on us?"

"Almost two days," Tear panted, coming up beside him. "Maybe a little less."

"Goddamnit," Guy said, frustrated at the hopelessness of the situation. "We'll never catch him in time. The only thing we can hope for at this point is that he won't meet anyone along the way, and if he does they have the good sense to stay away from him."

Asch peered at his target from behind the cluster of trees concealing his location. He could hardly believe his good fortune. After a week of searching, Guy's Necromancer had come to him when he wasn't even looking. A few hours ago Arietta ran back to him after scouting ahead and told him that Jade was approaching. Alone. He had had Arietta circle around and distribute her lyger's accordingly. The Necromancer was completely surrounded.

There was something odd about this. Aside from the fact that he was alone, Jade was walking strangely. Instead of the excellent posture that came with years of military training and his own arrogance, Jade was hunched over, with his head down and his arms limp at his sides. And he was covered in something. Dirt maybe, Asch couldn't see from this distance. No matter, the man was obviously distracted by something, which would make him easier to catch.

Asch started to creep forward, it was almost time. All of a sudden, Jade stopped dead in the middle of the road and looked right at him. Asch froze like a deer in the headlights. This was impossible, he had given no indication at all that he knew he was being followed and Asch had concealed his own location perfectly. All of a sudden his eyes widened. What he thought had been dirt staining Jade's uniform, it was blood. He was covered in it. It coated his arms past the elbows, dried streams of it were caked on his boots and his chest and stomach were splattered with it.

Jade suddenly moved. It was so fast that Asch had no time to react. Before he knew it he was pinned to the ground, Jade's legs on either side of him and his hand on his neck, squeezing his windpipe.

"Hello, boy," he grinned sadistically. "Did you think I didn't know I was being followed? You're pathetically skilled at hiding. Your friend and her animals too."

"What did you do to her?" Ash gasped.

Jade laughed softly. "It's all to marvelous to put into words, I guess I will just have to show you."

Asch felt a sudden blow to his head and the world was covered in darkness.

Asch woke up to Jade's smiling face. He looked around him; he was in the middle of a cluster of trees that formed almost a perfect circle. He was strung up by his wrists and he had been stripped to his waist. He looked around in horror; the clearing was covered in gore. The bodies of Arietta's lygers had been ripped apart. They were all over the ground in pieces. Arietta was tied to a tree on the opposite side of the clearing, she was unconscious, but Asch could tell she had been tortured. She was covered in gashes and blood, most if it not her own.

"You son of a bitch," he screamed.

Jade smiled wider. "Beautiful, isn't it? And watch, there's more."

He walked over to a pile of lyger bodies. He held his hands out, palms down and closed his eyes. Almost instantly the various body parts began shifting. They began coming together, a leg, a torso, until finally they conjoined to make a full, dead lyger. It stood on its feet and walked up to Jade, nuzzling his hand.

"You fucking freak," Asch yelled, trying to mask his terror with anger.

Jade jumped onto a stump in front of Asch. He leaned back on his heels and rested his elbows on his knees. "Now, what are we going to do with you?"  
"What the hell is wrong with you? Is this revenge for what I did to Guy? If that's it then at least let Arietta go, she didn't do anything."  
Jade let his head fall to one side and looked at Asch quizzically. "What are you talking about? What guy?"

"Jade –"

Jade moved so fast Asch didn't even see him. He felt something hot and painful in his side. He looked down. There was a small knife sticking out of his side, it hadn't hit any organs and it wasn't deadly, but it was incredibly painful. Jade wasn't smiling anymore. "Don't ever call me that again you fucking peon. I killed that weakling."

He ripped the knife out of Asch's side. Asch screamed in pain. Jade, no The Necromancer smiled. He took the knife and carved a small strip of skin out of Asch's abdomen and threw it to the lyger. The animal swallowed it quickly and looked at its master for more.

"He doesn't have to eat, you know. Being dead makes it unnecessary. But now that he's tasted your flesh, he'll want more."

"What do you want?" Asch whispered. "Why are you doing this, if it's not out of revenge?"

"I don't want anything," The Necromancer grinned.

The dead lyger suddenly stood up and bared its teeth. It was growling ferociously at the eastern side of the clearing. The Necromancer pulled back from Asch. "More of my toys are approaching, don't go anywhere, you will soon have some friends to join you."

Anise stopped in the middle of the road and collapsed. "I can't run anymore," she gasped. Luke limped up beside her and crumpled into a heap.

Tear looked at Guy. He knew he was pushing the others, but there wasn't any time. They had found no sign of Jade anywhere, other than stories from fellow travelers about a monster that looked like a man snatching people off of the road during the night. Guy was anxious for any physical clue to Jade's whereabouts, but he knew that the others were exhausted. They had been on the move for over 48 hours with no rest and they deserved a break.

"Lets find somewhere to camp for the night," he sighed.

They left the main path to camp on the side of the road. Guy decided against them venturing into the woods. With both Jade and the God-Generals on the loose he wanted a clear path in case they needed to run. Luke and Anise fell dead asleep in a matter of moments. Tear lay down to rest, but was too anxious to sleep. Guy didn't even make the attempt. He sat staring at the road, straining his ears for any sound out of the ordinary. Tear sat down next to him and rested a comforting hand on his shoulder. He smiled at her gratefully and resumed his watch.

"He's out there somewhere, Tear," Guy whispered. "Do you think we'll ever be able to get him back?"

Tear sighed. "I don't know. I don't even know if it's possible for him to return to himself. But if there's anyone who can bring him back, it's you."

"Even though I'm the one who made him like this in the first place," Guy spat bitterly.

"What's done, is done. The only thing you can do now is work toward fixing it."  
"But what if I can't fix it? What if he never comes back? What if the Jade I know is dead? Jade the Necromancer takes over? You know we can't let that happen. We'll have to . . . we'd have to." Guy's voice trailed off.

"We'll have to kill him," Tear said firmly.

"Goddamnit!" Guy punched the ground in frustration. "It's do the impossible or kill him."

Tear took Guy's face into her hands and looked him right in the eye. "You love him. And you have to believe that that love will transcend everything. Nothing can stop it. Not space or time or death."


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Finally the much shorter, long awaited second chapter is up. Thanks to all of those who left reviews, you support is much appreciated. I would like some feedback for what direction you would like the story to take and one or two people to preview chapters before I release them would be lovely.

Nothing particularly adult in this chapter, just kind of picking up the pieces from where we left off.

Acsh grunted in frustration. The Necromancer had been gone for nearly two hours and Asch had utilized every second to try to escape. He had been trying to free himself from the ropes that bound his wrists above him, but so far his efforts had yielded nothing but exhaustion. He needed to get Arietta out of here. She had lost a lot of blood and was deathly pale. Gritting his teeth in determination he tugged on the ropes one last time. He felt them slip, just a fraction of an inch, but that was all he needed. Using the fingers of his right hand, he dislocated the thumb of his left and slipped out of the ropes. He snatched the knife that Jade had used to stab him off the stump and cut his other hand free. He ran to Arietta.

"Arietta!" He gathered her into his arms and checked her heartbeat. It was frighteningly faint. He gently set her down and looked around the clearing. He found his jacket and sword in a neat pile; he quickly dressed and picked up Arietta. As he was rushing out of the clearing she awoke.

"Ungh, Asch?" she murmured. "Where – where are we?"

"You're going to be all right," Asch said sternly, quickening his pace.

"I couldn't stop him," Arietta moaned, her eyes suddenly filling with tears. "He killed them all, my family. They're dead Asch, and I couldn't stop him."

She began wailing in agony. Asch held her a little closer to him. He didn't know why, but he needed to comfort her. He felt that if he did that, somehow he could maybe forget his own defeat.

The Necromancer surveyed the landscape. There wasn't a living creature in sight. He sniffed the air. They were close; it was only a matter of time. The patchwork lyger he had stitched together sat beside him and affectionately nuzzled his hand. He absentmindedly stroked its large head while concentrating on his next task.

All of a sudden he felt a surge of resistance.

_Stop it._

He shook his head. It couldn't be, he was imagining things.

_Stop it._

He put his hands on his temples and concentrated on drowning out the noise in his head. This was all wrong. There shouldn't be any resistance at all.

"You can't fight me," he muttered. "I'm stronger than you. You can never win."  
In a flash, he was on the ground gasping for air. His back arched as he tried to fight the other self from gaining control. Images flashed through his head. A blond man smiling, laughing, touching his face. With one last push he gained control once again. He shuddered. That was too close. His eyes narrowed in a moment of clarity and he let out a laugh.

"It's him! He's keeping you here. He's your last remaining link." The Necromancer sneered. "Well, don't get to comfortable. He won't be around for long."

Guy stumbled onto his knees. They had been walking for 18 continuous hours with no stops or breaks. The others were miserable, he could tell but he didn't want to stop. If nothing else his growing apprehension kept him going. Tear came up behind him and gently placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Guy," she said softly. "You need to rest."

He nodded glumly. The group set up camp on the bank of a nearby river. As Guy poured some of the freezing water from his cupped hand onto the back of his neck, he thought about the day after he and Jade had kissed for the first time. What were only a few weeks ago now seemed like an eternity. He slumped to the ground. He felt defeated. He heard someone move up behind him and he turned around.

"I don't suppose you need some company," Luke mumbled, looking embarrassed. Guy shrugged and turned back to stare at the water.

"Where are the others?"

"Tear is taking a nap and Anise is out looking for food," Luke picked up some rocks and started throwing them into the river. "I wanted to talk to you, about you and, uh, Jade."  
"If you're here to make fun of me and call me a freak you can just fuck right the fuck off," Guy said angrily. He was tired and moody and did not feel like dealing with Luke's immaturity.

"I wasn't _going _to call you a freak," Luke insisted. "I just wanted to say that I'm sorry for the way I've treated you all these years and I'm glad you found someone who has made you happy."  
Guy stared at Luke in disbelief. These were words he had been waiting for Luke to say for years. But instead of making him happy they seemed to fuel his anger.

"So you think that makes everything okay?" he hissed. "You think the years of subservience and humiliation are just going to go away because you say you're sorry? Screw you, Luke. You don't know the first fucking thing about me."

Luke looked taken aback. This was obviously not the reaction he had been expecting. He opened his mouth to respond, but seemed to think better and promptly closed it. He stood up and retreated back to the camp.

Guy turned back to the river. He forced himself to revel in his anger. To let it consume him. He couldn't waver, not for a second. If he did, he would never be able to kill Jade. He had long since resolved himself to the fact that Jade was lost to him. The Necromancer was too strong and Jade would never be able to fight back. The only solution was to kill him. So he would teach himself to hate Jade. To hate everything.

Asch stumbled into the headquarters of the God-Generals. It took all the strength he could muster to keep from passing out right then and there. He went to Dist's laboratory and kicked in the door.

"Welcome back," Dist said without turning around. "I can assume you were unsuccessful."

Asch put Arietta down on a nearby sofa.

"It makes no goddamn sense," Asch fumed. "I've fought him before. He was never that strong. It makes no fucking sense!"

Dist walked over to the sofa where Arietta lay and looked over her. She was still unconscious and breathing was labored.

"Can you do anything for her?" Asch asked.

"I'm a scientist, not a doctor," Dist sneered. "But yes I can help her. Tell me about Jade."  
"I was following him; he was all alone so I figured it would be a good chance to start picking away at the herd, so to speak. And he outmaneuvered me. It was like he knew what I was doing before I did. He killed all of Arietta's lygers tortured her half to death before he started in on me. The strangest part is, that he seemed angriest when I called him by name."

Dist's eyes flashed in what looked like jubilation at this. "What do you mean? What did he say?" He insisted urgently.

"He said he had killed himself," Asch said.

Dist smiled like his birthday had come early. He started excitedly pacing up and down the laboratory muttering to himself.

"What's going on Dist? I know something's up and I know you know what it is."

"It's far too much for you to comprehend now," Dist waved his hand dismissively. "To put it in simple terms, Jade's alter-ego has taken control of his mind. He's much more cunning and leagues above the Jade you know in terms of strength and skill. He would be an incredible asset to us."  
"Are you insane? He almost killed me last time I saw him. I don't think he's interested in helping anyone, least of all us."

"It's all about finding the right motivation," Dist spoke like he was talking to a slow child. "You set him to a task that serves his interests and he will fulfill it. All we have to do is warp our tasks around something that _does _serve his needs."

"And how do you suggest I do that? I can't get close to the guy without him almost ripping me to pieces."

Dist stared at the wall, deep in though for a few moments. After a few moments he looked back at Asch.

"Do you know where the rest of the 'herd' is?" he asked.

"I know the general area but not the exact location," Asch answered.

"Find them and bring them here. The Necromancer will want to cut off any links that tie him to Jade. He will want to be rid of those that would seek to bring Jade back. Find them and he will come to us."

The Necromancer stalked through the tall reeds at the edge of the river. The group was ahead he knew. He was so close. He heard the sound of voices only a few feet away and saw the orange glow of a fire. He started to pick up snippets of the conversation.

"And I'm telling you that you don't know what you're talking about," a woman was saying. "After everything he's been through do you really expect him to be any position to accept any sort of half assed apology you offer him?"

"Well, maybe," a younger man's voice responded. "I just wanted, you know, for things to go back to normal."

"_Normal? _Normal for you is belittling him at every opportunity and treating everyone around you like garbage!"

"You know what I mean! I'm sick of everyone acting so depressed all the time!"

The Necromancer stalked forward a few more paces. They were distracted, just a few more moments and it would all be over. They would never see him coming.

He felt his head jerk back and a knife pressed to his throat. Someone was holding him back by his hair and breathing into his ear. He couldn't turn around to see who it was.

"I bet you think you're fucking sneaky, don't you?" A man's voice hissed. "I've been watching you the entire time. You're sloppy."

"Oh yeah? I guess I'll just have to be more careful next time."

"Guess again asshole, there's not going be a next –"

Before the other man could finish his sentence, the undead lyger came running out of its hiding spot and threw itself onto his attacker. The Necromancer pulled away and whirled around to face the man. His eyes narrowed. It was the blond man. The last thing holding Jade in this world. Well, this would be a perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone. He could stop those perusing him and rid himself of the parasite all in one blow. He began to conjure the magic he needed to finish the deed when a wave of nausea rushed through him. He fell to his knees, vomiting on the ground in front of him.

"You son of a bitch," he cursed.

_You can't stop me_

He heard yelling and footsteps approaching from the campsite. The others had been alerted to his presence and it wouldn't serve him to be found this way. The blond man had thrown the lyger off of him and was approaching fast. The Necromancer rallied his resources long enough to throw a weak stunning spell at him before running off into the darkness.

"Guy! Are you alright?" Tear came up beside him and tried to put her hand on his shoulder. He threw it off and looked at her, his eyes full of malice.

"Goddamnit! I almost had him!"

"Who was it?" Anise asked. "Did Asch come back?"  
"No, it was Jade," Guy grunted.

"Wait, if it was Jade," Luke looked confused. "You weren't trying to kill him, were you?"

What little tolerance Guy had stored inside him broke. "Of course I was trying to kill him you fucking moron! Jade is fucking dead, there's nothing left! If I don't kill him he will kill you and me and who knows how many others. Forget this shit, you do what you want but I can't deal with this group anymore."  
Guy picked himself off the ground and, avoiding Tear's piercing gaze walked into oblivion.


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Oh I'm back for yet another chapter. I'll have more time to write now because I just finished a huge project at work, so I'll be putting out chapters more frequently now. I want to thank everyone who reviewed this story and tagged it for updates. It makes me feel like this story is worth continuing. I'm going to be incorporating a little side pairing pretty soon here so please stay tuned.

RayestarIkina: I know that Jade doesn't seem as well spoken in this chapter but I wanted to draw a very bold line between Jade and the Necromancer. The Necromancer is crass and rude, hence the not-so-articulate speech.

On to the story

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The Necromancer was curled up on the ground moaning in pain. It felt as if he were splitting apart from the inside. He felt the taunting presence of the other at the back of his consciousness, telling him that it was only a matter of time before he lost control.

"No, goddamnit," he growled. He stood up with some difficulty. He had to keep moving. Ever since that night at the river the blond man had been tracking him. Normally he would have had no trouble throwing him off his trail but having to deal with the resistance from within his own head was making it nearly impossible to even walk.

Suddenly there was a voice behind him.

"Didn't I tell you that if you are patient, opportunity will nearly always present itself?"

The Necromancer spun around. Standing behind him were two men. One was the man he had left for dead in the forest days ago. The other he knew. His eyes narrowed into slits and his upper lip curled into a sneer.

"Dist," he said, a hint of disdain in his voice.

"Hello, Necromancer. It's been awhile. You're out of practice. We've been following you since you left the river."

"Well, I have another little duckling trailing behind to worry about," he replied. He looked over at the redhead. "Congratulations on freeing yourself. I commend you." He gave a mock bow.

"You mother fucker," Asch moved toward the Necromancer but Dist put out an arm to stop him.

"We've come to assist you in your hour of need," he said softly. "We will help you eliminate your 'ducklings' and we will rid you of the remnants of Jade."

The Necromancer looked at them suspiciously. "I wasn't born yesterday, Dist. I know you. What are you getting out of this?"

Dist smiled and approached him. "Only the pleasure of your company," he purred, trailing his hand up the Necromancer's stomach and chest. "Surely you haven't forgotten how well we worked together?"

"Oh no," The Necromancer smirked, catching Dist's small wrist in his large hand and pulling the smaller man closer to him. "We did make quite the team, didn't we?"

Behind them Asch snorted in disgust.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"….quite the team, didn't we?'

Guy was grinding his teeth so hard they were in danger of being turned into sand. He watched the monster wearing Jade's skin pull the God-General into his embrace. He clentched his fist and had to concentrate on not rushing forward to slit Dist's throat.

_It's not him. That's not Jade. Jade is dead. _

The mantra he had been repeting inside his head for a week quickened its pace. He heard Asch finally speak up.

"If you two are done, can we please get the hell out of here before someone _does _find us?"

"I believe that would be prudent," Dist achknowleged. He pulled a small remote from the inside of his jacked and pressed a few buttons. There was a hum coming from the northeast that steadily grew louder until a small flying transport crested over the hill coming to land next to the party. Asch climbed in first. The Necromancer draped his arm over Dist's shoulders and whispered something in his ear to which Dist laughed boistersly in response.

"Yes, well, he will be useful for now," he turned and stepped in, settling himself behind Asch. The Necromancer turned around and surveyed the landscape, passing over the spot where Guy was hidden several times. Guy held his breath. The Necromancer finally lifted himself into the transport and sat down next to Dist.

They lifted off the ground and started moving in the direction the transport had originally come from. When they had vanished from sight Guy stood from where he had been concealed and peered off into the distance. He started weighing his limted options. Dist, Asch and The Necromancer had combined forces and would be impossible to take out as a unified force. They knew he was following them so it would be even more difficult to get them apart so he could pick them off one by one.

_You could have done it with the others._

He pushed that nagging thought to the back of his mind. If he was going to have any hope of achieving his goal he needed to focus.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o

"This is hopeless," Anise frowned. "We'll never find him at this rate."

Luke was hunched over in hopeless abandon. They had been looking for Guy for what felt like centuries and there wasn't so much as a clue to his whereabouts.

"Where's Tear?" he breathed.

"She said she was going to look around a little more," Anise sighed, sitting down, her brow furrowed.

Luke looked up to see Tear approaching. Her cheeks were flushed and her hair was flying out behind her. She ran to Luke and gripped his arm with her own small hand.

"I know which way he went," she gasped.

"What?" Luke stared at her, baffled.

"He's headed for the God-General's headquarters," she continued. "We need to catch up with him now or he'll get himself killed."

Luke and Anise, not needing to be told twice set off.

0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0o0

Trapped in the dark recesses of his own mind, Jade felt hopeless. He was tired of struggling. Every time he seemed on the brink of breaking through, the other self pushed him back down. He didn't even know if he cared anymore or if there was anything worth caring. He made another push and managed to surface long enough to hear the conversation apparently taking place between him and Dist.

"I must admit, your tag-a-long is quite resilient. He's been keeping up with us for quite some time," Dist was murmering.

"Well, what the hell are you going to do about it?" Jade felt the Necromancer respond.

"Dist has put his latest experiment nearby," Asch grunted.

"Ha! You never do learn do you?" The Necromancer said scathingly. "How many of your little projects have you thrown at them?"

"Yes, but," Dist purred. "This one is different. It is much more resilient than the others. In addition, there is only one of them now. It wouldn't stand up to the group so well, but against one swordsman, it's more than enough."

Jade lost the connection. He began to panic. Dist was right. Last time he and Guy had barely escaped the machine Dist had set before them. By himself Guy was lost. He needed control.

"Your time is up," he told the Necromancer.

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"Your time is up."

The Necromancer lurched forward. This wasn't a whisper or a shadow. This was loud and clear as day. He hurridly tried to set up mental barriers to bar Jade from breaking through, but he felt himself quickly losing control. He fell to the floor at Dist's feet writhing in pain.

"No!" he bellowed as his fists clenched and unclenched.

Dist fell to his side. "What's is it? What's wrong?" he screeched.

The Necromancer twisted his head back and forth a few more times and as suddenly as the fit had started, he was still. He sat bolt upright, his eyes wilding rotating as if surveying where he was.

"Are you alright?" Dist asked in a quaking voice.

The man on the floor pulled himself onto the seat, pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose and smiled.

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End file.
